'Bruno' gets an R rating on second try

Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno

Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno

Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno

Zap2It.com

Sacha Baron Cohen has made his gay Austrian fashion reporter a little safer for America.

"Bruno," which the Motion Picture Association of America initially saddled with an adults-only NC-17 rating, has on appeal been given an R rating, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The rating assures that the movie can receive its intended wide release; a number of theater operators refuse to carry NC-17 films.

The MPAA's initial rating caused a brief uproar in showbiz circles, but the NC-17 was given to a version of "Bruno" that wasn't the final cut. Once distributor Universal submitted the finished version, the less restrictive R followed.

Like his previous film, "Borat," Cohen's "Bruno" will feature the British actor in character and traveling across America getting unwitting non-actors to say and do outrageous things. The last time around proved to be a winning formula, as "Borat" made better than $128 million at the domestic box office.